FLIP: All ag, all day

Published 5:14 pm, Saturday, August 10, 2013

Ryan Crowe./Plainview HeraldRadio station KFLP broadcasts an all agricultural news format each day from its downtown Floydada studio.

Ryan Crowe./Plainview HeraldRadio station KFLP broadcasts an all agricultural news format each day from its downtown Floydada studio.

FLIP: All ag, all day

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It started with an idea to fill an information void. Twelve years later, an AM radio station in Floydada continues to be a voice for agriculture in the region.

Tony St. James re-launched 900 KFLP-AM in 2001 as All Ag, All Day; a 24-hour format of market reports, weather reports and agricultural news. His approach, unique at the time, was to provide farmers across the South Plains with instant agricultural information, no matter where they were.

“When’s the best time to get information? When you want it,” said St. James. “The whole idea is that you might want or need markets at 10:30 or 2:30 — all we’re doing is making it available for producers.”

St. James compares the format to CNBC or Bloomberg. “We try to give them the agricultural business information that they need on a regular basis.”

Over the past dozen years the format has evolved beyond South Plains-centric agriculture news to take a broader look at what’s happening.

“In 2001, we probably would not have talked about hogs and pigs, but we do today because the growing hog and pig industry translates to increased sorghum production. So knowing what’s happening in one area means we can understand how it affects another. We’ve been able to step back and see how agriculture affects us locally, nationally and globally.”

All Ag, All Day has also grown from just one station to three, adding on stations in Dumas and Enid, Okla. St. James also produces shows that run on a handful of stations in the region. He says the changing role of the farmer is a big part of the network’s growth.

“The idea of a farmer has changed from what Americans saw on TV in the 1960s — today’s technology allows farmers to get crop information on their phones. They have become CEOs of million-dollar companies.”